


We don't want that (But I can't go on without you)

by AKarnstein



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempt at Humor, F/F, Humor, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Slow Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKarnstein/pseuds/AKarnstein
Summary: Soulmate AU.In a world where most people were born with the day they would meet their soulmates marked on their skins, Andrea Sachs is fierce in denying that soulmates even exist. Problem is, she just met hers and damn, she was so wrong.





	1. It won't do you no good

Technically, it was an ordinary morning. Andy woke up to a facefull of black curly hair and a slightly muscular back, just before seven a.m., a bit jealous of the light snoring sound that came from Nate's side of the bed. He had always been a heavy sleeper, so she was used to him not waking up to her alarm.  
She stretched, getting out of his side of the bed too (a bad sleeping habit that she never got rid of - sprawling herself all over her bedmates) and got up, starting the coffee machine and getting ready for her shower.

Technically, it was an ordinary morning. Except for the fact that she had barely slept the night before and could feel how big the bags under her eyes were. Also except for the fact that she, a huge breakfast lover, was getting nauseous at the usually delicious and comforting smell of coffee. Oh, and also except for the fact that it was the day she was supposed to _meet her soulmate_.  
But, obviously, she could blame her nerves on the job interview she would have too (the fact that her knees almost gave out when she took another look at Nate's sleeping face while getting into the bathroom to start showering and getting dressed she could pretend to ignore).

So she got into the shower and let the hot water warm her, trying her best to focus on the sweet smell of her shampoo and soap and not look, for the life of her, to the small date burning in bright red at her wrist. It would be either a watch or a long sleeve day, then.

You see, most people were born with The Mark, the date that showed when they would meet their soulmates. In theory, everyone got a mark, it changed colors when soulmates were nearby, they met and went on to their happily ever after.

Obviously it didn't work out like that on the real world. On some people it showed up somewhere during infancy and on some rare cases people went years and years without a mark. There were also weird cases of the mark showing up only when soulmates met, and burning so brightly it was impossible to miss. Or even cases of marks changing, not burning, people with more than one date... It was a mess, honestly, and that was why Andy _did not_ believe on this whole mark system.

For her it was just another way for governments to control people. Or a way that higher power made itself believable, whatever. Or capitalism, too. She just didn't want to believe on it. Her mark hadn't appeared until her fourth semester at college and by then she just had endured way too many remarks about being destined to be alone, become a crazy cat lady, or any other stupid thing like that.

And then she had met Nate, and they actually fit together. Things weren't perfect, and they had bad days, but they made it work, so it was good right? He hadn't hesitated when she wanted to move to New York, right out of college, and was a hard worker, too. And good looking. All of her friends had always pointed that out (some, she noticed, with a little too much enthusiasm). So what if their dates were completely different? Sometimes soulmates were platonic. They were good together, his soulmate could be his best friend since kindergarten for all she knew (and also for the light grey mark scribbled on his shoulder that indicated that he supposedly met his soulmate around 20 years ago). And her soulmate? Well, she didn't believe on that. Which was why for the last 2 and a half years since her mark showed up on her wrist she had planned on staying home all day long, because she _didn't_ need a soulmate. She had a perfectly good boyfriend, thank you very much.

Obviously, the stay at home all day long plan didn't work when she got the only call for an interview in the two months since they had moved to New York, and well, those bills weren't going to pay themselves. So she had another plan, that consisted in getting dressed on her least appealing clothes (but still professional enough), going to the interview talking as little as possible to anyone and then getting back home for the rest of the day. Easy. If everything worked out alright she'd be back even before Nate left for his afternoon shift, luckily with a new job.

And everything did work out alright. Being outside, with people that wouldn't bother looking two times at her, the feeling of being unknown eased her nerves enough for her to get an onion bagel. No it wasn't just because she wanted something to focus her hands on to stop herself from fidgeting with the golden band, trying to peek -but pretending that she wasn't- at the mark on her wrist, trying to see whether it had changed back to black, or even if it had changed colors after brushing shoulders with every stranger on the subway. The fact that she got an onion bagel when she _hated_ onions was purely lack of attention. Because of the interview. Not nerves or any of that soulmate crap, no.

That was as far as she got with things working out alright. After she arrived at the Elias-Clarke building everything went completely downhill. She felt like she was completely underdressed for the place, the Runway office wasn't actually an office, since it took four floors of the building and looked like the places she would see in all those designs programs on TV with her parents on a lazy weekend. The girl at the reception table looked at her like she was on fire when she asked about Emily Charlton and didn't utter a word, since Emily herself showed up and Andy might have not had met her up until that moment but boy, the woman looked pissed. At her, for some reason. Or human resources, as she had mentioned too.

The interview itself was another disaster. Emily didn't look at her, preferring to walk around the office, often barking orders at someone, stopping middle sentence to "Oh my God" at something and just generally not letting Andy speak, and scoffing at her when she did. Andy didn't even have to check on her wrist to know it'd be as black and cold as it was on most days. Well, thank God that her soulmate wasn't someone so cold and apparently horrible as Emily. Not that she believed on it anyway, but the girl looked like she was either on the verge of a panic attack or killing someone.

Then came the cherry on the top of the cake. Emily's phone rang and by her face she had decided that she was pending more to the panic attack side, bacause Andy could swear she saw the redhead pale, and that was something, considering the girl's skin was almost paper white.

And then the whole office started moving like the building was on fire. People were running on corridors, calling others, sending out warnings. It was a mess, and just the begining of some very enerving things that would take place afterwards. The bald man that had suggested that Andy was some before and after project took one last long look at her before leaving the glass office, like she was something interesting to be regarded.

And then Emily was back, even before Andy could notice she had been gone, and Andy's whole world stopped. Because right by her side, giving orders in a voice so low that it was barely above a whisper, was the most beautiful woman Andy had ever seen in her entire life. And her wrist ached and burned and shined so brightly that she could feel it, and all she could do was to offer a breathless smile and be thankful for her watch and long sleeves that prevented everyone else from seeing the little show her mark was pulling. Suddenly the sweater and coat felt too heavy and hot on her skin and she wanted to get rid of them when eyes so blue they were almost grey stopped on her face, but the only thing she got out of was air, because damn.

Emily's voice saying that they needed someone that could survive there was ringing inside her head. Andy didn't know since when or how, but if that meant that she would be nearby that silver haired goddess in human form, she had just become the person they needed.


	2. Oh, hot blood, love is gonna get you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST: A HUGE SHOUTOUT AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone who gave me a few minutes of their time to read and comment on this. Your support fed me enough energy to write this new chapter, so again, thank you. 
> 
> Again: this is completely unbeta-ed, so any mistakes are my own. If you happen to find any, I will be happy if you point them out to me.
> 
> Some people seemed to think the mark was unclear, so just to clear it up: the mark isn't a shape, it's a date. The color have meanings, as you will see in this and further chapters. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this one!

There was nothing ordinary about her day, Andy thought as she walked aimlessly around a city that she still didn't know. She felt like she had been drugged, not really seeing where she was going or noticing when someone bumped shoulders with her. To be fair, shock was an hell of a drug, so she wasn't very far on the whole being drugged thing.  

 

So. Soulmates did exist. She knew that, of course. Her parents were soulmates. But her soulmate? Existed too. HER soulmate. Oh God, her beautiful, apparently much older, supposedly legendary in her industry and so so _so_ out of her league soulmate existed. Oh, and she was also her new boss. Andy wasn't sure what exactly she had done on some past life for the universe to hate her so much, but it had to be something bad. Maybe she had been a serial killer. Or maybe it was just karma shoving in her sceptic face how very real soulmates and the marks were. 

 

She had things to focus on for the moment, and those could go both ways: One, she could focus on how bad was the fact that Miranda didn't appeared to be bothered at all by her. Maybe Andy had heavily misinterpreted everything and was just freaking out for no reason and her new, married, rich boss wasn't actually her soulmate? Maybe she was just impressed by Miranda's presence – which, honestly, she had a lot of presence for someone quite small – and her soulmate could be someone else? Maybe even Emily? One must hope, right? And then she felt a hot, searing pain on her wrist. The first thing she noticed was how bright it looked, because it wasn't red anymore. It burned brightly, so blue that it was almost grey. A small " _Oh_ "escaped her when she realized where else she had seen that exact shade of blue. _Subtle,_ she thought bitterly.   
   
Well then, there was also the second way that this could go that was completely and absolutely freaking out (not that she wasn't already), but with company. With trembling fingers and a brand new phone, she called her number one knight in shiny armor when it came to any hard times she might have had in her life since the second grade.    
   
"Doug, I'm in so much trouble"    
 

* * *

   
Obviously, she shouldn't be doing this, Andy thought, as she gulped down one more of those delicious margaritas Doug had ordered for them both. It was 10:45 _a.m._ and she was drunker than she had been since college, which wasn't good considering she only drank more than she could handle when she was celebrating something really good (shoutout for Andy who passed the Economy classes!) or when she was really stressed, on the verge of a nervous break down (not shoutout for last year's finals?), and the problem was that she wasn't sure for what she was drinking at the moment? Yay she found her soulmate? Holy fuck  _Miranda Priestly_ was her soulmate? Maybe both. At least Doug seemed to be as in bad shape as she was, judging by his red face.   
   
"So let me get this straight" Doug started and actually _snorted_ at 'straight' "No, I can't, actually. You have to be joking, Andy" 

 

They had been past this, actually. At least Andy thought they had, after spending the past half hour going over earlier morning's events. Actually, that had taken less than 10 minutes, with Andy hiperventilanting and talking too fast between almost tears and nervous laughter. She was a mess. That was why Doug had decided that tequila in the middle of the morning would be a good call, and that was also how they were the way they were at the moment: Wasted.   
 

"Am not" she sobbed and hiked up her sleeve to show the now black again mark showing the current date, half disappointed that it wasn't still shining in that gorgeous blue shade of those gorgeous eyes. Or happy, because the blackness meant that Miranda wasn't anywhere nearby to witness her shitfaced state. Which was good, considering their soon-to-be working relationship. 

 

"And she doesn't know?" Doug inquired for what must have been the fourth time.   
   
"No."   
   
"Damn, Andy."   
   
"I know, right?"    
   
"How are you going to tell Nate?"   
   
Nate. Oh God. Nate. Her boyfriend. Her boyfriend with whom she had had a nice, stable relationship for three years now.  But also her boyfriend who hadn't crossed her mind since she left home that morning. She would have to tell Nate. She didn't have the slightest idea of how to tell Nate. She let her head hit the table with a groan. Doug ordered another round of margaritas.

"I could be wrong, y'know? I could just be impressed. I mean, she is beautiful. And very impressive. And apparently world famous. It could be someone else. I could just have some kind of celebrity crush and it'll all go away by the first time I mess up on the job and she is mean to me. She looked mean with Emily"

"Andy, darling, you hadn't ever heard her name two hours ago." Doug caught her hands between his much warmer and bigger ones, staring her right in the eye "It's not a celebrity crush, and we both know it. You've got to face it, sweetheart. You've found the person you're supposed to love and support and who's supposed to love and support you back. It might be hard, love, but you know it will pay off in the end and I will make sure to be there and say that I told you so."

3 pet names in one sentence. Andy knew their friendship well enough to know that it could only mean that she was so, so screwed.

"We could still be platonic" she slurred, and the glare Doug gave her made her laugh. In her heart, she could only hope everything would turn out alright.

* * *

 

That night, after Nate arrived from work she told him she had gotten the job. They went out with Lily and Doug to celebrate, but she couldn't, for the life of her, find a way to tell him about Miranda. So she didn't. When they went to sleep, blue-greyish eyes were on her mind, but she couldn't find it within herself to be bothered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry for the lack of interaction between Andy and Miranda in this chapter (but at the same time not, because hey, I did tag it as slow romance), but I promise we will get to see plenty more of Miranda soon enough.
> 
> Got any thought, complaints, doubts, issues? Found any mistakes? Hit me up with them!
> 
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, so again, be kind and let me know what you think?

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo  
> That's the first thing I've written in five years. Any spelling mistakes are my own, since I don't have a beta.  
> Please be kind and let me know what you think?


End file.
